Tekken (series)

Tekken (鉄拳,Tekken? lit. Iron Fist) is a series of 3D fighting games developed and published by Namco. Originally developed for arcades, versions of several sequels as well as updates and spin-off titles exist for various platforms, including the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, WonderSwan, and Game Boy Advance.

The series' official English name is always written in all-capital letters (TEKKEN, abbreviated to TK). Two of the games were considered breakthroughs and among the greatest games of all time, one of which also being the second best selling fighting game to date. The series itself is currently the best selling fighting game franchise in gaming history.[1]

Novel

Gameplay

Tekken 2 and Tekken 3

The Tekken series use separate buttons for right and left limbs, resulting in four buttons. Other trademarks include throw escapes and starting from Tekken 2, autoblock. Each iteration was improved upon both graphically and technically. Tekken 3 introduced the ability to move into the foreground or away from the background, commonly referred to as "sidestepping". Also, Tekken 3 reduced recovery time after being knocked down then previous games and each game afterwards includes rolls to recover instantly after hitting the ground; allowing the player to get back into the fight instead of pounding buttons.

Tekken 4 and Tekken 5

Tekken 4 gave characters even greater mobility by adding true 3D movement while simultaneously including geometrically complex arenas with unleveled ground, obstacles, and walls. This differed from previous Tekken games, where all of the arenas were level and contained no boundaries, meaning the player could walk forward or backward without limit. Tekken 5 saw the return of both walled and infinite arenas, with the fluid mobility of Tekken 4 being toned down to appease many players who felt it made the game more focused on evasion.

Tekken Tag Tournament

Tekken Tag Tournament, released between Tekken 3 and Tekken 4, is not a part of the Tekken storyline. The game allowed each player to control one of the two selected fighters, who could be tagged in and out of the fight by the additional fifth button, which can be used for tag team attacks and juggles, amongst other tactics. Otherwise, Tag Tournament used much of the Tekken 3 gameplay engine and reintroduced characters who weren't available since Tekken 2.

Rounds

By default, there are two rounds of combat. However, the players have a choice of one to five rounds, as well as options for the time limit of each round. If the winning character retains all his or her health without the time limit expiring, the announcer will call, "Perfect!" If the winning character is near knockout (5% health remaining or less), the announcer will call, "Great!" It is possible that both characters can be knocked out simultaneously, and the announcer will call, "Double K.O." If the time limit for the round expires, the character with more health will be declared the winner. If both players have equal health remaining, the round will be a draw. In other cases, the announcer will call, "K.O." when one character is triumphant or "Double K.O." when both opponents have been knocked out simultaneously. Double K.O. results in a loss for the player in Arcade mode.

Story

A worldwide martial arts tournament is nearing its finale, with a large purse of prize money to the fighter who can defeat Heihachi Mishima in the final round of the competition. The contest is sponsored by the giant financial group, the Mishima Zaibatsu. There are eight fighters that remain after winning death matches all over the world. The winner of the tournament will receive The King of the Iron Fist title. Only one will have a chance at defeating Heihachi and taking home the prize money and fame.

Kazuya Mishima is the main character. Heihachi's biological son, he was thrown into a ravine by his tyrannical father when he was five years old. Heihachi, believing his son was too weak to ever inherit his conglomerate, decided that if he were truly strong enough, he would be able to survive the fall and climb back up. Kazuya barely survived a fall that left him with the scar prominently visible on his chest. Fueled by hatred for his father, he enters the tournament to exact his revenge.

Many battles were fought in the First King of Iron Fist Tournament. But only one lone warrior emerged with the right to challenge Heihachi Mishima for the of "King of Iron Fist" title. This warrior was Kazuya Mishima, Heihachi's cold-blooded son. Bearing the scar given to him by Heihachi, he enters into vicious combat with his father on the same field where Heihachi last struck down his own son and dropped him into a trench at age five.

After a gruelling battle which raged on for hours, Kazuya emerged victorious by utilizing the power granted to him by the supernatural entity known as Devil. As Heihachi's broken body lay on the ground, Kazuya dropped to his knee and lifted his father into his arms. Kazuya walked slowly to the edge of the same cliff from where his father had thrown him from, as a child. He stared out over the landscape, and let go of his father's body. As Heihachi's body plummeted, Kazuya's smile gleamed in the sunlight.

Two years have passed. The Mishima Zaibatsu under Kazuya's leadership has become even more powerful with its tendrils reaching to all corners of the world. Soon after his father's apparent death, Kazuya disappears into the shadows. However, rumors of his immense power, and a dark side, slowly begin to spread throughout the world. Sometime later, a message is relayed from the Mishima Zaibatsu fortress to news agencies all over the world announcing the second tournament with a prize a thousand times that of the first.

Like his son before him, Heihachi survived his fall into the ravine thanks to his supernatural endurance. He retreated to the hills to meditate in order to rekindle and enhance his fighting ability. He enters the King of Iron Fist Tournament 2 to reclaim his conglomerate and dispose of Kazuya once and for all.

The King of Iron Fist Tournament 2 draws to a close. Jun Kazama comes to the stunning realization that Kazuya Mishima's supernatural strength stems from Devil. But she cannot help being drawn to him, propelled by a mystic force beyond her control. Several days later, the final challenger arrives to face Kazuya, the organizer of The King of Iron Fist Tournament 2. In a reprise of The King of Iron Fist Tournament 1, father and son clash in a cursed blood battle. Eventually, Heihachi Mishima emerges, scarred, but victorious, to regain control of the immense Mishima Zaibatsu. Unaware of Devil's presence, Heihachi casts the lifeless Kazuya into a volcano.

As Kazuya's body burns, the Devil appears before the pregnant Jun Kazama in a bid to enter the soul of the new life beating within her. But in a desperate struggle for the future of her child, Jun defeats Devil and retires to desolate Yakushima so as to raise Kazuya's son, Jin Kazama, alone.

Having regained control of the Mishima Zaibatsu, Heihachi sets about to further increase his powers. He embarks on a crusade to win the trust of world leaders by putting wars and conflicts to rest. Using his immeasurable wealth, he forms Tekken Force, a mercenary group employed to quell conflicts efficiently. He also takes a strong interest in the well-being of developing nations by helping them build agricultural systems that will sustain them. Through Heihachi's efforts, the world appears to be regaining peace.

Around fifteen years have passed, and Jin Kazama is now 15 years old.

Under Heihachi's orders, the Tekken Force is excavating a Central American archaeological site when they discover a mysterious life form. Heihachi orders the creature's capture, but loses contact with the Tekkenshu after a garbled radio message, "... they are all dead... Ogre (Fighting God)?!..." Upon arriving at the dig, Heihachi finds a field of corpses. Heihachi is wracked by sorrow, but also realizes that the power of the mysterious life form could be the key to his long-dormant dream of world domination. To obtain this mysterious power of Ogre, and the world, Heihachi tempts the fates once again.

Within weeks, strange disappearances occur throughout the world. Persons of a strong soul, masters of martial arts, and other derivative fighting disciplines are reported missing with no knowledge of their whereabouts. Jun Kazama instinctively picks up on the dark power encroaching on her life. She has no understanding of what it is but senses that she has become a target. Accepting her destiny, she tells Jin everything that she knows of their haunted past to prepare him for the fateful day that she now feels is imminent. She tells Jin to go to his grandfather, Heihachi Mishima if anything should befall her. Her intuition proves right on a cold and stormy night. Ogre comes to the mountains, bringing a chilling, swirling wind. Jun instructs Jin to run away. But against his mother's pleas, Jin opts to face Ogre and is knocked unconscious.

When Jin awakens, the house and everything around it is burned to the ground. Jin searches frantically for his mother, but she is nowhere to be found. Honoring her instructions, Jin goes to Heihachi and begs to be trained in order to exact revenge. Heihachi, hearing Jin's tale, is convinced that Ogre is after the souls of powerful fighters. To attract Ogre, Heihachi decides to host the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3.

Four years later, on Jin Kazama's 19th birthday, the curtains rise for The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3.

Two years ago, Heihachi failed to capture Ogre. Not willing to give up, Heihachi ordered his researchers to collect blood samples, skin tissue, and hoof fragments left behind by Ogre (or known as True Ogre in its true manifestation) in order to conduct genetic experiments. Heihachi’s goal was to create a new life form by splicing Ogre’s genome with his own. However, the research was unsuccessful.

After extensive experimentation, Heihachi’s bioengineers came to the conclusion that an additional gene - the "Devil Gene" - was necessary in order to successfully splice Ogre’s genetic code into another living organism. Heihachi learned that his own genome lacked the Devil Gene, but he knew someone who had it... Jin Kazama.

Jin, who vanquished Ogre in The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3, was shot and mortally wounded by Heihachi. As his life slipped away, Jin transformed into a Devil. Upon his transformation, he struck down Heihachi and took flight. Jin’s whereabouts were unknown after the Tournament. Heihachi searched for Jin to no avail. However, Heihachi discovered a photograph during his investigation that stirred his curiosity. The 20-year-old photograph was an image of a burnt corpse covered with laceration wounds. Heihachi paid particular attention to the corpse’s back, which had what looked like deformed, protruding wing-like limbs.

Convinced that the picture was of Kazuya, his own son whom he threw into a volcano 20 years ago, Heihachi diverted all his resources into a search for the body. This search eventually led Heihachi to G Corporation, a cutting-edge biotech firm making unprecedented advances in the field of biogenetics research. Heihachi discovered that G Corporation found the corpse and extracted and analyzed its genetic data. In fact, Heihachi learned that the company was in the midst of creating a new life form by using the data. Heihachi also determined that Kazuya’s remains and research data were secured at G Corporation’s Nebraska and Nepal research laboratories, respectively.

Friday, 25 December. The Tekken Force raided G Corporation’s maximum security research laboratory in Nepal. The bottom floors of the building were obliterated, and the remaining data storage facility containing file servers was airlifted by a group of heavy-duty helicopters. At the same time, a separate unit led by Heihachi infiltrated the underground research facility in Nebraska, where Kazuya’s remains were preserved. As Heihachi observed from his helicopter, he soon realized that unlike the Nepal facility, the operations in Nebraska were not going according to plan. The tactical status monitor screens showed the first wave of the Tekken Force troops being blown out from the storage room where Kazuya’s remains were supposedly kept.

A silhouette of a large figure slowly emerged from the room... When Heihachi could see clearly enough, he instantly recognized the large figure as Kazuya. Kazuya was resurrected in G Corporation’s research facility. After his resurrection, Kazuya offered his body as research material to determine the true nature of the Devil that resided within him. Kazuya’s goal was to unify his two selves into one. Kazuya theorized that if he unified his body with the Devil, he would be able to truly harness its powers. He could then finally take revenge against Heihachi and the Mishima Zaibatsu (Financial Empire).

Enraged that Heihachi thwarted his plans, Kazuya obliterated the heavily armed Tekken Force and vanished into the flames of the lab’s wreckage. Heihachi was infuriated by Kazuya’s escape and took out his anger on his hapless subordinates who reported the escape. Dr. Abel, Heihachi’s lead scientific advisor, urged the enraged Heihachi to quickly find a way to capture Kazuya. Once his anger subsided, Heihachi focused his mind and decided on a plan. An evil smile crept upon his lips.

Two years had passed since The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3. The Mishima Zaibatsu announced The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 and placed the massive financial empire as the top prize. The champion who manages to defeat Heihachi at the end of the Tournament would inherit the Mishima Zaibatsu.

Well aware that the tournament is just a trap designed to lure him out, Kazuya nevertheless enters - it is his chance to defeat Heihachi.

After the conclusion of King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, father Kazuya Mishima and son Jin Kazama, battle each other at Hon-Maru, located within the Mishima estate. Jin quickly beats his father. The eldest Mishima, Heihachi, enters Hon-Maru to find his son defeated and unconscious. Heihachi and Jin begin battling. During the battle, Jin begins to manifest the Devil he inherited from his father, Kazuya. Just as it appears that Jin will kill Heihachi, Jin suddenly gains control of his body and flies away.

Suddenly, a bunch of "JACK" robots interrupts the battle. Both Kazuya and Heihachi are surprised at the attack, and begin battling as a team against the invasion. During the battle, however, Kazuya betrays his father, throwing him into the path of the army of robots, and escapes. Seconds later Heihachi looks up, a robot explodes, destroying Hon-Maru. Raven, watching on top of the cliff, speaks into a headphone, reports, "Heihachi Mishima...is dead."

After hearing of Heihachi's death, people believed that it would bring the end of the Mishima Zaibatsu. However, the explosion broke the ground which led to the rubble and therefore enabled a demon to take over and revive Jinpachi Mishima, Heihachi's dead father, who later broke free from the rubble of Hon-Maru and took control of the Mishima Zaibatsu, and a month later announced the opening of The King of Iron Fist Tournament 5.

Jin Kazama was the winner of the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5, and for unknown reasons has begun using the Mishima Zaibatsu for world conquest, declaring war on several nations and even space colonies until the entire world is at war.

Meanwhile, Kazuya Mishima has discovered the division of G Corporation that tried to kill him, and takes his revenge by murdering them all. Kazuya then takes control of G Corporation and uses it as the only power in the world to counter the Mishima Zaibatsu. By this time, the world sees G Corporation as its only saviour and Kazuya is viewed as a hero, although his true intentions are to kill Jin and steal his part of the Devil Gene to stop him interfering with his own plans for world domination. Using G Corporation's newfound popularity to his advantage, Kazuya puts a bounty on Jin's head, dead or alive. Furthermore, Heihachi Mishima, father of Kazuya and grandfather of Jin, seeks to reclaim his Zaibatsu, having been unconscious throughout the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5. Jin, having anticipated this, announces the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 to rid himself of Kazuya and his other enemies once and for all.

The war started by the Mishima Zaibatsu was part of Jin Kazama's plan to awaken Azazel, a creature that feeds on people's negative emotions so that he could defeat it and save the world. After Lars Alexandersson, ex-member of the Tekken Force defeated him in combat near the temple where Azazel rested, Jin engages the awoken monster in a deadly fight. Heihachi Mishima, discovering that Jin went missing after a large explosion caused by his clash with the beast, decides to rule the now leaderless Mishima Zaibatsu once again. As soon as he regains control of his financial group, Heihachi announces the seventh Iron Fist Tournament.

Meanwhile, Akuma, the master of the fists, is determined to find and kill Heihachi and Kazuya, as he promised many years ago to Kazumi Mishima before she died, honoring a life debt he had with her. Akuma apparently beats Heihachi to death, while presenting himself and explaining his reasons, and then leaves, heading to G Corporation HQ to kill Kazuya. Heihachi, however, managed to survive the attack and figuring out that Kazuya will probably reveal his Devil form in order to defeat that powerful enemy, decides to show the world the true nature of his own son, to turn the table and gain the world's population trust.

He then decides to blow up the entire building with Kazuya and Akuma still in there, getting rid of them both. Kazuya survives, and, with the world now completely engulfed in chaos, sets a meeting with his father in order to definitively end their life-long clash. After an intense battle, Kazuya manages to punch Heihachi to death and throws him in a lava river.At the end Jin eventually recovers and vows to stop kazuya once and for all.